Ahhhh, the joys of spring!

Sadly, the bursting forth of buds, the twitter of returning birds, and the lengthening of days has also ushered in a rush of testosterone and a complete lack of civility. If it's spring, let the fighting begin.

In the last 10 years, I can honestly say that spring brings us two to four large scale fights, that when one is in the middle of it, feels like a riot. By large scale, I mean more than 10 kids fighting with the rest of the stupid student body crowding around cheering on the mayhem. In a school like mine, these fights almost always break along racial/ethnic lines. Probably for the last nine years, the African-American students and the Arabic students have been the main combatants. When questioned, of course nobody can explain why these two groups have such an intense springtime hatred of one another. All I know is that it will lead to everyone being in a shitty mood and a jail-like atmosphere being imposed on the student body as a whole.

On Friday, the first big fight broke out, but I have no idea when or where. Of course, ultimately, the situation can be traced back to a bad decision by an administrator. The senior class apparently still needs to raise money for its prom and thus requested a dodgeball tournament. By the way, according to the assistant principal, dodgeball is banned from schools in the state of Michigan. The principal approved it anyway. Tickets would be sold for two or three bucks and the tournament would be held during second and third hour. Yes, you read that correctly, students could pay a couple of buck and miss two classes. What a bargain!!! That's another pet peeve of mine, but an entirely different conversation. The kiddies went over to the building that contains the gym (it is a separate building) and surprise, surprise, there were a number of outsiders, drop-outs, and garden variety thugs hanging around. It is my understanding that some of those darlings sneaked into the event. This is where the details get a little hazy for me. At some point, a melee broke out in the bleachers and some students tumbled down the bleachers while others ran for the doors. The fight spilled outside and then into the parking lot. At this point, we have a riot on our hands. Some kids are beating the shit out of each other, while others are running around without their shirts - whooping and hollering. I was with my class, the only nine that hour who had not bought tickets. We witnessed the arrival of two ambulances and a number of cop cars and heard the announcement that were on lockdown. My student teacher took a walk to see what was up and he said it was a mess. I then wandered to the office where I saw one boy who has never been in a lick of trouble holding an ice pack to his head. He had a giant welt in the middle of his forehead because someone thought to try and drive his head through the ground. Apparently he had been jumped one other time out on the streets.

The students from the dodgeball tournament were ushered into the auditorium where our prinicpal told them that he wasn't going to suspend anybody!!!! By this time, the lunch hour had come around, the bells were turned off, and cops were all over the building (eight by my count). My student teacher and I stood outside the lunchroom ushering kids to the right spots, making sure there was no lingering. Sadly, the police were no help.

I know that a cop's job is tough and dangerous, but sometimes they simply make a situation worse. I asked one boy where he was going and he didn't respond. I teach high school, so I'm quite used to being ignored. Well, a cop grabbed the kid by his shirt and brought him to me. I asked him for his teacher's name and in very broken English told me the name of an ESL teacher. I told him to hurry to class and then I told one of the officers that the student didn't speak English. the cop chuckled and said, "Well, he will today." Idiot.

The rest of the day was tense and calm. Unfortunately, 13 years of experience tell me that we are not over the hump. Hell, we might not even be able to see the top of the hump at the moment. All I know was that today was a peaceful day and for that I am grateful.